


The Only Exception

by Nova_Fearnewood



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Dating, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Happy has a soft side, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, My First Work in This Fandom, POV Alternating, Possible OOC moments, Quintis - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-14 15:39:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3416183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nova_Fearnewood/pseuds/Nova_Fearnewood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Valentine's Day, Toby decides to get to know Happy better so that he can hopefully make the transition from friend to lover someday. Toby has had feelings for Happy for ages but Happy always seems to shy away from her feelings and hide behind her armor. Toby wants to earn Happy's trust so he can see her for who she truly is.<br/>Happy doesn't mind Toby being her friend but she's been harboring feelings for him for the longest time, and that scares her to death. She's not good with relationships or romance and doesn't want her feelings to ruin their friendship. <br/>This is the story of how Happy lets Toby in and how Toby realizes that he has his own armor to shed.<br/>(I'm bad at summaries)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Getting To Know You

**Toby POV**

As hard as I tried not to let Happy distract me, my eyes kept following her.

In my mind, I sincerely felt that Happy Quinn was as close to perfection as any human being could possibly get.

She was smart, witty, funny, and she was a bad-ass. Sure she had her flaws, that's what made her human. She didn't take any shit from me or anyone else and that was one of the many reasons why I was attracted to Happy Quinn like a moth to a flame. When she was angry at me, I was scared as hell but instead of showing fear, I turned into an asshole. 

Watching her work, especially when she was dealing with something highly delicate was impressive to say the least. I could psychoanalyze her all I wanted, but after a while, it felt wrong to do something as mundane and rudimentary as learning about her via her body language. Happy deserved more than that and I needed to prove it to her.

I realized about four months ago that if I wanted a shot with her, I'd have to talk to her like a normal person, as Paige was always suggesting that we do when we're working with clients.

That was why I had prepared for this day for the longest time. I plucked up my courage (because yes, even I get uneasy about talking to Happy) and tried to talk to her. 

She was hammering away at some piece of heated metal and she was slowly shaping it into something.

"Hey Happy, what are you working on?", I asked, tentatively approaching her work space as I twirled my hat between my hands.

Happy shrugged.

"Just a part that Walter needs for the rocket...", she said as she put the part into a vat of cold water for a moment where it made a hiss and sent up a cloud of steam before pulling it out and setting it off to the side on a towel, "What's up doc?", she asked, giving me her full attention.

Well, no turning back now.

"I was wondering if you wanted to run out for a bite to eat... because Sly and Walter are over at the hospital visiting Megan and they said they'd get food on the way back. Paige and Ralph are out going shopping for clothes so they're probably going to pick up some food while they're out. We have food in the fridge but I'm not the best cook unless you count ramen noodles...", I rambled.

Well, at least she won't think it's a date.

Happy sent me this look that asked if I was serious.

"Are you being serious?", she asked, a hint of humor in her voice.

"I'm being completely serious.", I said. 

Happy shrugged before cleaning up and pulling off her protective gear. She grabbed her leather jacket and her messenger bag.

"Well, c'mon doc, that food won't get itself. Besides, you owe me ten bucks..."

"That's why I'm going to pay for whatever you choose to get... Where do you want to go?", I asked and slid into the passenger's seat of her car.

"I haven't had Chipotle in a while...", she mused.

We rode in silence for a minute or so and I tapped my fingers on the armrest.

"Why don't you take your paycheck and get a car instead of gambling it away?", she asked.

I feigned being hurt.

"Ouch. So you really don't enjoy my company?", I asked.

She laughed a bit, "No. You're fine, even if you can be an asshole sometimes... No offense, but I kind of get tired taking you everywhere."

"That hurts..."

"What?", she asked, "At least I don't make you pay for the gas..."

"This is true...", I replied as we parked on the lot and I held the door for her as we entered. 

We ordered our food and, true to my word, I paid for our meals and we sat at an open table in the corner.

We ate in silence for a while when I decided to make conversation.

"You know, I'd really like to get to know you.", I said, taking a sip of my water.

"Thought you already knew me... haven't you psychoanalyzed my every move for ages? By now, I half expected you to know me better than I know myself...", Happy replied with a chuckle.

I shook my head.

"No, I don't want to  _psychoanalyze_ you... I want to get to know you by talking to you and hearing your thoughts and opinions... I want to know you as a friend, not as someone who can be read like a book based on their responses to stimuli.", I replied, "You aren't a book... You're a human being with thoughts and stories that can't be observed."

Happy gave me this look as though I had struck a nerve and made her more emotionally vulnerable.

"Wow... I'll be honest, I didn't expect you to open up like that...", Happy replied, "I was waiting for something totally asinine to come out of your mouth..."

She took a bite of her burrito and chewed thoughtfully.

"So...uh... What do you want to talk about?", she asked.

"Um, your interests... I know that working on machines is both a hobby and a lifestyle for you but I know that there has to be more to you than that.", I said.

Happy nodded.

"If you're going to be asking me about my life then maybe I can ask you about yours.", she said.

 "Fair enough. I'll start. What was your favorite Disney movie when you were growing up?", I asked.

"Mulan.", she replied almost immediately.

"Why Mulan?", I asked, "You said that you didn't like the princess movies..."

Happy rolled her eyes.

"Mulan wasn't a princess. She was a warrior. She was the first girl who actually stood her ground and didn't swoon right off the bat over some guy. She was a bad ass in her own way... if you know the movie you'll see that she didn't really fight by throwing punches or anything unless she absolutely had to. Sure, she trained and all but for the most part she fought with her knowledge and stood up for what she believed in. She risked everything just to protect her father and she didn't really become that stereotypical young woman, she sort of figured it out on her own and became a woman in the way that suited her, even if it was unorthodox... In a way, I can relate to that.", Happy confessed, "What was your favorite movie?", she asked after a moment of silence.

"I didn't really have one.", I replied with a shrug. It was the truth.

"Really?"

"Yeah... I didn't watch a lot of TV growing up... I spent most of my childhood taking care of my mom when she wasn't going completely insane or trying to OD on her medication. My dad hit the bottle and gambled when dealing with my mom got to be too much for him to handle and then I'd have to help him out by counting cards and reading people's faces...", I confessed, "When I was thirteen, my mom OD'd and my dad went to jail. I went to live with my grandmother but that didn't work out. I still graduated though..."

"How did you pay for college?", Happy asked, as if she couldn't help herself. 

I had no trouble answering her.

"I gambled until I had enough money to go to college and rent out a room in a house off campus. I worked to earn enough money so that I could eat and prayed that I never got sick or in an accident because, Lord knows, I couldn't afford to see a doctor. I took out student loans and earned scholarships so that I could go to medical school. I got my degree quickly. When I was an intern, I made next to nothing and I turned to gambling so that I could have enough money to open up my own practice but I got into some trouble with a pit boss and that was when Walter found me... the rest is history..."

I had never really opened  up like that to her except for the time when I was checking her ankle in Bosnia, but even then, I hadn't told her everything. Walter was the only one who knew about my past. 

Her face reflected shock which was quickly masked by her normal expression. Her changing expressions hurt me like a kick in the gut. Making her uncomfortable had never been my intention. 

"I'm sorry... you didn't need to know my life story...", I began but then stopped when Happy did something that was quite unlike her normal approach to an awkward situation. 

She reached out and placed her hand over mine before realizing what she did and patting my hand anyway, as if she was brushing the awkwardness of the situation away.

"Toby, I know you come from a tough place, and I get it, I come from one too. I may not know the first thing about psych or the way the mind works but I do know that getting stuff off of your chest every once in a while helps keep your head on straight...", she said truthfully.

I nodded. 

"You're right.", I agreed.

We lapsed into silence and, to my surprise, Happy didn't move her hand. I was enjoying the feel of her small palm and her rough fingertips brushing the back of my hand when her phone rang and she sharply withdrew her hand to answer her phone. 

The call lasted a few seconds and when it was over, Happy got up and said, "We have a case."

Soon I was holding on for dear life and trying not to lose my lunch as Happy drove like a maniac through the streets of Los Angeles. 

When we arrived at the garage, Cabe was there waiting for us.

"Well it's about damn time you two showed up... We have work to do."

All through the case, I couldn't keep my mind off of Happy.

Little did I know that I was entertaining her thoughts too.


	2. The Kids Aren't Alright

**Happy POV**

I precariously scaled the side of the hotel during the mission using the gecko gloves and tried to distract myself with the mission when my mind kept switching back to the fact that Toby was staring at my ass.

I was  _almost_ there when all of a sudden my hand didn't stick. 

"The stupid glove stopped sticking!", I yelled. 

 I dangled off the side of the building with the gloves that that  _skank_ from the CIA had given to Toby. 

Correction, Toby had  _flirted_ with that  _skank_ and got these shitty gloves.

The grip slid a little and my heartbeat kicked up it's pace as I tried not to panic.

"You know your little girlfriend at the CIA who designs this stuff?", I hollered down at Toby.

"Yeah?", Toby replied. 

"Yeah, she sucks!", I bit back.    

And now I was going to most likely fall to my death.

"Happy... ohmygod...", I heard Sly gasp from the sidewalk.

I saw the ledge and did the math and physics calculations in my head as Sly figured out the probability of me making it to the ledge of the balcony by swinging. I had a fifty/fifty chance of making this work.

"It's natural to be scared!", Toby yelled up to me.

I rolled my eyes.   

"You should be scared! You're the one who gave me these gloves!", I yelled back before I slipped again.

 _"Fuck it, I'm not going to risk hanging here."_ , I thought as I swung and then said a prayer to whatever god was listening as I detached from the side of the building and landed on the balcony.

"How did she pull that off?", I heard Sylvester ask through the communicator. 

"She's Happy Frickin' Quinn...", Toby murmured in awe. 

I stayed focused on the rest of the mission and after it was over, I had a lot of penned-up frustration. After everyone left to either go home, or in Walter's case, enjoy the night by grilling on the roof with Cabe, I did what I would normally do to let off steam. 

I plugged my phone into the speakers that I had made, selected my anger management playlist, turned the volume up, pulled on my protective gear, and began hammering away at a piece of scrap metal. 

"The Kids Aren't Alright" by The Offspring came on and I decided to sing along. I practically shouted every verse and got really into the song. I had always liked The Offspring, theirs were the best songs to cut loose to, in my opinion, and although they had a lot of rage in some of their songs, I found them to be uplifting just the same. 

At the end of the song, I paused my music so I could get some water, only to turn around and find Toby sitting there at his desk with his feet propped up on the surface, looking at me with raised brows.

My face got hot and I immediately became very self-conscious.

Toby was the  _last_ person I wanted around to see me when I cut loose. Knowing Toby, he probably videotaped the whole thing to use as blackmail.  

"Don't stop on my account.", He said, lifting a book, "I was just reading." 

 I don't know where it came from, but anger flared up inside of me. 

"Why are you even here? Don't you have an apartment to go home to?", I spat as I reached for my wrench.

Toby's brows shot up and he dropped his book as he stood, taking a defensive step backwards.

"Happy, calm down...", he said, looking me in my eyes.

"Were you recording me?!", I yelled.

"What? No!", he replied.

"Why are you here? How much did you see?", I demanded, stepping towards him with my wrench. I could feel my rage coiling and uncoiling like a cobra in the pit of my stomach.

"Listen, Happy, put the wrench down... I'll tell you then--"

"Tobias M. Curtis, you better tell me now, or else I'll--", but I never got to finish my statement because Toby cut me off.

"Or else you'll what? Hit me with your wrench?", he asked in an almost defeated voice.

"If I have to.", I replied.

Toby shook his head and sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face in exasperation before looking at me again.

 "Do you threaten everyone who comes too close and sees you as you are?", he asked quietly.

His words hung in the air, resonating in the tense silence that had fallen over us.

Toby stared at me with those light brown eyes of his and something inside me just snapped, extinguishing the burning anger that I had experienced a few seconds earlier.

He wasn't psychoanalyzing me, I could tell by his expression. This was Toby asking me a genuine question out of sheer concern.

I found myself turning away from him. I put my wrench down in an almost reverent manner and braced my hands on the edge of my workbench. I exhaled and swore internally when I felt hot tears pricking at the edges of my vision. 

I heard Toby approach tentatively.

"Happy, are you okay?", he asked and I straightened up, quickly wiping away my tears before facing him. 

"Yeah, I'm fine...", I replied, trying and failing to keep the tremor out of my voice. 

"Here.", Toby pulled up a couple of chairs to face each other and he sat down in one of them before gesturing for me to sit in the other one, "Let's talk about it. I'll tell you when I got here and what I'm doing here. You tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me.", I replied, sitting down anyway.

"Okay then.", he replied.

"When did you get here?", I asked after a beat of silence.

"Right after you started working.", he replied, "You didn't hear me come in."

"Why are you here?", I asked.

"Walter is letting me use his washer and dryer. The machines in my apartment stopped working last week and we've been busy so I haven't gotten around to going to the laundromat. Walter just told me that if the maintenance crew hadn't fixed them by today, that I was more than welcome to drop by and do my laundry here.", Toby explained.

"So you didn't just hang around because you saw a chance to embarrass me?", I asked.

Toby sighed.

"As much as I enjoy being around you, I wasn't here to embarrass you at all. I'm just waiting for my laundry."

"How did you get here? You don't have a car..."

"Walter let me use his car. Any other time, I would've walked.", Toby replied with a shrug, "Are you sure you don't want to tell me anything?", he asked.

I nodded although my conscience called bullshit. 

I had wanted to tell him about feelings for the longest time, since before Bosnia. It just seemed like whenever I tried, something happened that made me throw up my shields. Flirting wasn't really in my skill set, so I had tried to be funny instead. Unfortunately, whenever I tried to be funny, I ended up saying something hurtful instead. 

Somehow, Toby seemed to understand that I didn't mean anything by my somewhat abrasive remarks.   

I heard an alarm on the dryer go off and Toby went to stand up when I reached out to him and caught his wrist.

"Happy?", he asked as he turned to face me.

"Wait... there is something I wanted to tell you...", I began, but the second I looked him in his eyes, my insides twisted and I lost my nerve, "I... uh, I'll help you fold your laundry..."

He gave me this accepting nod as if he just knew what I wanted to say and understood that he'd get to hear me tell him in time, and with that, we went upstairs towards the washer and dryer.

"Thanks for helping me out...", Toby said as I helped him fold his bed sheets. 

"No problem doc... thanks for not filming me and using it as blackmail...", I replied.

 Toby laughed.

"Hey, if your repair guy doesn't show up, I can come by and fix your washer and dryer.", I offered.

Maybe I'd be able to tell him how I felt then.

"Sounds like a plan... I can get some snacks if you'll bring your phone and that good music."

"You got yourself a deal."


	3. Shared Things

Toby POV

I wasn't really expecting anything for my birthday, not even an acknowledgement, and I was perfectly fine with that. My birthday was just one of those things that I didn't broadcast to the world, no matter how much I liked to run my mouth. 

It's not that I had anything against it, it just never really felt special, especially after my parents were gone. 

I guess you could say that I was indifferent to it.

I had bought a used Jeep as a present to myself and I'll admit that I had gone a bit overboard with my spending, but I had a feeling that it was just what I needed in terms of versatility and comfort. 

I certainly didn't miss the way Happy eyed it up as I pulled into the lot and before I knew it, I was psychoanalyzing her.

Her eyes, posture, and the slight upward curve of her lips were all positive signs.   

"Hey doc, I see you got a new ride...", she said. 

Her tone made goosebumps erupt on my skin. 

 _Yup, I'm definitely getting a positive vibe from her._  

"Yup. 2013 Jeep Wrangler...", I said and patted the steering wheel. 

"Mind if I take a look at it?", Happy asked as she approached me.

I shrugged and turned the engine off. 

"Sure, you're the expert..."

"Well, pop the hood, lets see what's she's got going on..."

I released the hood and exited the vehicle to prop the hood up, smiling to myself as Happy came closer and stood on her tiptoes to peer inside the engine compartment.

 "Looks good to me doc. Better than that piece of crap truck you had...", she said as she stretched up to reach the hood prop. 

When her fingers brushed it a few times, I decided to intervene.

"Here Hap,  I got this...", I said and reached up effortlessly to close the hood for her. 

"Thanks doc.", she murmured as we both went inside,and, if her posture and tone of voice had anything to do with it, I'd be willing to bet that she didn't quite appreciate my help, then again, Happy had always been fiercely independent.

I went over to my desk and sat down as Walter came over to me and patted me on the shoulder as he passed, saying, "Happy birthday.", in a voice that was quiet enough not to be heard by everyone.

Unfortunately, he had said it  _just_ loud enough for Paige's super mom hearing to pick up. 

"Oh!", she gasped, swiveling around in her desk chair to face me, "It's your birthday?"

I nodded. 

The cat was well and truly out of the bag now.

"Well happy birthday!!", she exclaimed.

I didn't miss the recognition ques from Sly, Happy, and Cabe as they all looked at me.

"So doc, where are we going for lunch?", Happy asked, putting down her soldering gun, "It is your birthday."

"I'll pay, consider it a gift from Homeland.", Cabe said, looking up from where he was cleaning his gun.

"I can order that movie that you wanted to see. It was called  _The Theory of Everything_  right?", Sylvester asked, "We can watch it later if we don't get a case."

 _"Would it be too much to ask for you all to just ignore it?",_ a voice inside my head quipped.

"Oh, well, uh, while I certainly appreciate the gesture, I usually don't make a big deal out of my birthday...", I replied.

"Oh well, to each his own I suppose...", Paige replied.

Everyone nodded and went back to their work and I began reading an e-book on engine repair for dummies. Happy already thought I was completely useless around machines, so I would just have to change that. 

The rest of the day went along smoothly, just business as usual. 

We got a relatively easy case solved by the time Ralph was done at school and then, since it was a Tuesday and we had our weekly team dinner, Paige made her spaghetti and meat sauce, one of my favorite dishes. Walter broke out a bottle of wine, using the excuse, "I just had it lying around in the refrigerator upstairs and it'll go great with the meal...", to open it up. Sly had walked down to the local Redbox kiosk and picked up  _The Theory of Everything_ , saying "I know you don't really do this but I just had to get you something, so here, watch it when you get home."

It was a subtle gesture made by them, and I appreciated it, really, I did, but after the meal was done and everyone had gone home except Happy and Walter, I went up onto the roof to be alone for a little while.

I looked up at the night sky, wishing that there was more up there to see than light pollution and sighing.

Someone cleared their throat behind me and I didn't have to turn around to know who it was, but I did anyway and a warmth spread through me when I saw Happy looking nervous and at odds with herself, shuffling awkwardly as she approached with two bottles of hard cider in her hands.

"Hey doc, I, uh, I figured you'd be up here, so I, um, wondered if you'd mind the company... I brought some Angry Orchard up too, it's fresh out of my mini fridge...", she said.

"Sure, I'd like that...", I replied, taking the bottle of cider from her, our fingers brushing momentarily.

I cracked open the bottle with my key chain bottle opener before offering it to Happy who took it with a slight inclination of her head and a muffled "thanks".   

"So what brings you up here?", she asked as we sipped our drinks in silence.

"Oh you know, just had to get away from it all for a little while...", I replied, "This is unusual for you... usually you never share your Angry Orchard...", I murmured as we sat down at the table.

The passing breeze blew Happy's jet black hair a little bit and I smiled to myself as she pushed it out of the way.

"Yeah well, I figured that I could make an exception on your birthday...", she replied, "I get the whole you-not-wanting-to-make-a-fuss-about-your-birthday thing... I'm the same way... I don't think I could've held myself together with all the subtleties though..."

"Yeah, I was about to say something but then Sly came forward and gave me the movie... He seriously left the garage on his own and used a bacteria laden public machine to get this germ-infested DVD that God knows how many people touched just to give it to me because he wanted to do something nice to celebrate my birthday... I-I couldn't say no to that...", I replied.

Happy nodded, "Yeah, you gotta love Sylvester...", she took a swig of her hard cider, "He's the nicest one among us with the highest EQ... besides Paige, of course..."

We lapsed back into silence and then Happy asked me something unexpected.

“Hey Toby, I was just wondering why you didn’t celebrate...I know I don’t because I never had a reason to look forward to my birthday as a kid... I grew up in the system and lived in rough houses in rougher neighborhoods, but you already knew that...”, she took a sip of her cider.

I sighed.

“I guess I just never really got into celebrating because my parents would argue all the time about it. My mom would yell at my dad for gambling away the money she had saved for months in the hope of buying me a few books for my birthday present and my dad would yell at her to calm down before she forced herself to have another manic episode. I just got used to not celebrating I guess...”, I sipped my cider, recalling a memory of my eighth birthday, wondering if I should tell Happy.

I decided I would.

“I remember the year when I turned eight. My mom had bought me a Pit Bull puppy for my birthday and told me that he was my responsibility. I named him Rex and I took good care of him. I made sure he was groomed and fed and I even trained him. Rex became my best friend and it was great. I had Rex for a few years until he was fully grown and I was surprised when my dad began taking an interest in him.”

“What happened to Rex?”, Happy asked.     

“One day, I came home to find my mother crying on the sofa and Rex was gone.”

“Did he run away or something?”, Happy asked.

I shook my head.

“No. My mom told me that my dad had been speaking to some people and that he had sold Rex to pay his gambling debts...”, I paused, “Naturally, I was heartbroken and I didn’t speak to my dad any more that I absolutely had to for about two months.”

Happy nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear about that...”

“It’s fine...”, I replied, standing up and walking to the edge of the deck and looking out over the Los Angeles skyline. 

Happy came up next to me and  stood with her forearms on the rail.

“Nice night...”, she commented as a cool breeze blew, fluttering her jet black waves lightly as she took a sip of her cider.

I looked at her and noticed how much smaller than me she was. 

Her hands were almost delicate but I knew what wonders they could work and how rough and calloused they were as a result of her work. 

Her entire frame was built along a sleek, slender line, but I knew not to let her stature fool me into believing that she wasn’t capable of holding her own in a fight. 

Her abrasive humor and sharp wit just drew me in and I absolutely loved it when she’d let me get close enough and see her for who she truly was. I wished that she would stop keeping me at a distance and I wished that I could talk to her about the feelings that she knew I had for her without making our friendship awkward or strained. 

She blushed a little bit and I realized that I had been staring at her, so I drained my bottle and looked out at the night. 

I could feel her eyes on me and I didn’t say a word to her about it, I just let her look and wondered if she was thinking about me in the same manner that I had been thinking about her.

“Hey Happy, I was wondering... Do you want to come by my place to watch  _The Theory of Everything_ later?”, I found myself asking before I hastily added, “You know, if you aren’t busy...”

I glanced at her and didn’t miss the flicker of a rare smile around her lips.

“That sounds good... What time?”, she replied.

I glanced at my watch. 

“Oh, give me a half an hour to get my place tidied up...”

“So in an hour?”, she asked, smirking.

“You know me too well.”, I replied, “An hour sounds good.”

 She nodded.

“Okay doc... I’m giving you a head start here...”, she said and I patted her hand and left.

An hour later, Happy knocked on my door and I showed her in. 

“Hey doc, how are the machines running?”, she asked, nodding towards the closet doors that hid my washer and dryer from view.

“Oh, they’re perfect, thanks again for fixing them...”

“Any time... In my mind, I still owe you for Bosnia...”, she replied.

“Really?”

“Yeah,”, she said and sat down on my sofa, “Without you, I could’ve made my injury worse... I could’ve fucked it up to the point where I would’ve needed surgery to repair the damage done to my lateral ligaments... I’ve heard that in extreme cases of plantar flexion and inversion, some people have to wear a brace for the rest of their lives.”

“Wow, someone knows her anatomical terminology...”, I said, truly impressed.

“I didn’t want you thinking I was a lost cause when it came to dealing with medical stuff, so I did a bit of reading on the topic...”, she said, before she caught herself and blushed beet red, “Or you know, so I could fix my own problems in the future... or help someone else...” 

“That’s good...”, I murmured as I sat down next to her with the bowl of popcorn between us. 

 We made small talk and then fell silent as the movie started.

I remember paying attention to the first part of the movie but I began to shift my attention towards Happy when she tugged the blanket off the back of the sofa and draped it over herself before kicking off her boots and setting them next to my sofa.

I dozed off somewhere around the middle of the movie and woke up as the movie ended, and I felt something heavy on my shoulder.

I looked and found Happy sound asleep, curled up underneath the blanket, and breathing softly, her head resting on my shoulder. 

She was so peaceful looking that I decided not to wake her up, so I carefully shifted and let her down easy. 

I didn’t want to move but I figured she’d be freaked out and embarrassed if I decided to let her sleep against me and she woke up. 

I cleaned up silently and then went to bed, making sure that I left a lamp on for her.

When I woke up in the morning, Happy was gone, but she left a note on my kitchen table.

_Doc_

_Sorry I fell asleep last night. Thanks for not waking me b/c I was exhausted. I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t stick around for breakfast, I didn’t want to wear out my welcome. See you at the garage._

_\- H_

_P.S. Thanks for leaving the light on_

Call me hopeless, but I smiled and put the note in the drawer of my bedside table, just because it showed me that she cared. 

When I saw her at work later, I nodded to her and she nodded back. 

Nobody needed to know about last night, even if nothing really happened. 

Those shared moments were nobody’s business but ours. 


	4. Hetty's Words of Wisdom

Happy POV

I heard crickets chirping and Paige rushed to get her phone.

“Hello? Hey, uh Drew...”, she answered.

I didn’t miss the look that Walter had on his face whenever Paige’s ex lover and Ralph’s father was mentioned. The 197 IQ genius was jealous of Drew, head over heels in love with Paige, and was like a father to Ralph. 

One more emotion and Walter O'Brien would probably become another victim of the so-called phenomenon of spontaneous human combustion.

“We have a case and I have a feeling you’re not going to like it.”, Cabe announced as he entered the garage.

“Let me call you back...”, Paige said and hung up.

“Who’s not going to like the case?”, Toby asked, putting his book down.

“That’s to be determined.”, the older agent replied. 

Sly, Walter, and Paige came closer to hear what the case was all about.

We listened as Cabe explained what was going on. 

Apparently, some rich jerk had fallen on hard times and owed a crazy amount of debt to some gang or mafia that would kill him if he didn’t pay them back, so in order to pay his debts, he had complex drones built with finely tuned scanners that would basically steal the numbers off of a lot of people’s debit cards, thus making it easier to steal the money he owed without raising too much suspicion. This guy was paranoid and had complex security at every turn, but his wife, who had no clue what was up, was celebrating her birthday by inviting about two hundred of her closest friends over for a masquerade ball.

“So what do you need?”, Walter asked.

“I need Happy and Toby to go undercover and stop this guy before he robs everyone on the west coast.”

“What?”, Toby and I asked in unison.

“Look, I know you don’t really like each other,”, Cabe began.

 _“It’s quite the contrary...”_ , I thought to myself.

“But you two are just going to have to get over it.”

“Couldn't you just send Walter and Paige to do the job if Happy and Toby won’t go?”, Sylvester asked, cleaning the lenses of his glasses like he did when he was feeling borderline anxious.

“Yeah, we could take care of it...”, Walter said, “Right Paige?”

Paige nodded in agreement.

Cabe shook his head.

“I’m afraid not, and it’s nothing against you two or your skills. This case is sensitive and we need the best mechanical engineer to disarm those systems and dismantle those drones, the best psychoanalyst to put that paranoid jerk at ease and read his every move, even if he is wearing a mask, and we need both of them to work together to get this job done. That’s why I’m telling Happy and Toby that they’ll need to put aside the past and move on. Everyone else can run all the back end stuff from the garage or the van, but we need them undercover.”, Cabe explained.     

I sighed and accepted my fate, that I wouldn’t escape this mission. Homeland needed me, shit, the whole west coast needed me! I could tell my dignity to hit the road for a few hours to save people.

Now putting away my emotions for those few hours would be the hard part.

I barely held it together the last time I saw Toby in a tux and I still can’t erase the image of him adjusting that bow tie. I mean, damn... the way his long, slender fingers tugged on that black silk just did things to me...

 _“I wonder what else those long, slender fingers of his would be good for...”_ , I thought to myself before pushing the provocative thoughts out of my mind and focusing on the case.

“I’m in.”, I blurted abruptly, bringing the conversation around me to a screeching halt.

The air hung with silent tension and Paige’s phone started going off, the sound of crickets chirping breaking the awkward silence.

the scene would’ve been quite humorous to an outsider, but Paige answered her phone ( _“Drew I can’t talk now, give me some time here.”_ ) and Walter went back to wistfully gazing at the young mother, breaking the tension. 

Cabe nodded.

“Well, I’m glad you all agree that this is the best course of action to take. The masquerade is in two days. Happy and Toby will come with me to Hetty’s so we can get your outfits together.”, he said.

“Uh, Cabe, I have a real quick question.”, Toby began.

The older agent looked at the doctor with a raised brow.

“What type of outfits do we need? Is there a theme to this ball?”, he asked, “That way I can pick up on some cues... If it’s a historical type of ball, then I’ll have to take into consideration the popular customs from that era to better draw my conclusions...some people go overboard with their planning...”

“No, no theme... Just make sure you get some masks and make them look like they’re custom made... this is a rich crowd we’re dealing with here, we can’t afford to blow the whole operation with some minor detail like a mask you bought at a store.”

Toby and I both nodded.

“You know,”, I began, “I could just make the masks on the computer and then send them over to the 3-D printers, that way we’ll have masks that fit perfectly and are one of a kind...”

Toby nodded. 

“Walter has a 3-D scanner that can take our measurements and put the dimensions into an Inventor file so that you can design the masks onto an accurate model.”, he said, before quickly adding, “That’s not to say that your measurements wouldn’t be accurate, this is just a time saver...”

“That’s actually a really great idea...”, I replied.

I didn’t miss the way Toby’s face lit up, nor how my body responded with the flutter of butterflies in my stomach.

I didn’t normally find his ideas to be good ones, but every now and then, that genius would come through, and I’d find myself complimenting him, but, oh God, I had fallen hard for him.

“Hey are you two coming or not?”, Cabe hollered from the door, “I promised Hetty that we’d be by before three...”

We followed the older agent out to the SUV and rode to Hetty’s. On the way, I asked Toby how he wanted his mask designed.

“Oh, I’ll let you decide, just make sure it looks awesome.”, he said.

When we arrived, Hetty greeted us.

“Ah yes, the mechanical prodigy and the behaviorist extraordinaire... I remember you well.”, she said, shaking our hands, “Shall we?”, she gestured back to her  costume area and we followed her.

Toby was handed a tux and sent to the dressing room to try it on while Hetty led me into another area of the boathouse.

“I keep the gowns separate from the rest of the clothes...”, she explained as she led me to an open space with a large full length mirror on one wall and curtains on a semicircle track  surrounding a small circular platform. A small couch and a few chairs sat off to one side and there were many hooks on the wall. 

A satin dressing gown hung on a hanger near the mirror.

“What size are you?”, Hetty asked, and I shrugged.

“I’m not sure... I don’t own any dresses...”, I replied, “I’m sorry...”

Since when was I sorry for not owning dresses? 

Something in the older woman’s gaze seemed to help reassure me that I was just fine.

“Well, that’s quite alright...”

She left and I pulled the curtain around before changing into the dressing gown and putting my hair up in a bun to keep it out of my way. 

Hetty returned with about five dresses of varying dark colors, all which would go well with whatever metallic color my mask ended up being. 

“Now I’ll have to pin up whatever gown you choose and send it off to an old friend of mine who can hem it up.”, Hetty explained as I nodded and retreated behind the curtain.

I fought to zip up the first gown before my pride left me and I asked for help.

When Hetty had zipped it up and buttoned the back of the high collar up, I straightened up and looked at myself in the mirror.

I hardly recognized the woman who was looking back at me.

I had on a black, high neck, sleeveless, lace floor length gown that accented my subtle curves without flaunting them too much. 

“Well, that looks good...”, Hetty said, “can you move?”

I walked around before lifting the skirt a little bit and lunging forward, only to have the dress constrict on my midriff and force all the air out of my lungs. 

“Ow...”, I griped as I rubbed my ribs.

“Perhaps this one...”, Hetty suggested, handing me another gown.

I must have tried on what felt like every gown in that place and when all my hope seemed lost, Hetty produced a dark red gown. It was satin with a single shoulder design, golden leaf jewelry details on the strap and down the opposite side of the body, and a slit that ran from the mid thigh area to the floor.

I tried it on and looked in the mirror before walking around in it and then putting on a pair of matching gold high heeled pumps.  

It was perfect. 

I could move and breathe and it didn’t need to be hemmed.

“Now, I’ll just put this off to the side for you, you’ll need to come back so my stylist can do your hair and makeup...”, Hetty glanced at my fingernails, some of which had the black stain of deep set motor grease under them, others with chipped edges, “and your nails...”

I nodded.

“Sorry I don’t really bother with my nails that often... my work is pretty unkind to them...”

“And that’s okay”, Hetty called through the curtain as I changed, “You enjoy your work, even though it gets messy.”

“I love my work,”, I replied with a chuckle as I shook out my hair, “I remember getting scolded by my foster parents because I’d take apart the garbage disposal and put it back together...”

“Would it still work?”, Hetty asked as I emerged.

“Well yeah, sometimes it would work better than before...”, I replied.

“I guess they were wary of your genius nature...”

“I got bored a lot... I still do sometimes...”, I replied.

“I thought you loved your work?”, Hetty asked.

I sighed and shrugged.

“I’m more bored with my life outside of work than anything else...”, I replied.

“Then I may have a suggestion for you.”, the older woman said with a knowing look.

I raised my eyebrows as she placed my dress in a bag and hung it next to Toby’s tuxedo before reaching into a drawer nearby and replacing his white linen pocket square with a red satin one with a gold edge.

“I see the way Dr. Curtis looks at you and I know for a fact that those looks aren’t lost on you...”

I nodded, there was no sense in lying to someone like Hetty. I knew that the older woman could keep a secret and she was easy to talk to. She didn’t really press matters. She’d make her point and leave you alone if you didn’t want her to continue and I liked that about her. 

I guess that’s why I was being so honest with her. 

“If I had to guess, I’d say that you’ve been trying to hide all of your feelings for Dr. Curtis behind your emotional armor.”, she stated.

“You’d be right...”, I replied.

“Maybe you should accept his advances and see where things lead. Although his personality can be a bit off color at times, I can tell that Dr. Curtis has nothing but noble intentions where you are concerned.”

I cocked my head.

“How can you tell?”, I asked. 

“I’ve been around for quite some time and I’ve seen all manner of attraction, both the good and the bad. For being a behaviorist, Dr. Curtis often forgets that actions speak louder than words. His actions tell me that he thinks quite highly of you and your actions tell me that you think quite highly of him, wouldn’t you agree?”

I remembered waking up at five AM on his sofa with a blanket draped over me. The lamp on his book-laden desk was turned on, bathing his living room in a soft yellow glow. 

That lamp hadn’t been on the night before, so I knew he must’ve turned it on for me.

 “I agree...”, I said, trailing off.

“Well then, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s stopping you from taking the next step?”

“I don’t want to get into anything with Toby only to have things end badly... He’s my best friend and I’m in love with him and I’m not sure what to do.”, I blurted out.

There it was.

My whole dilemma finally put into words.

Hetty seemed to sense this and said,

“Some of my closest friends have been married for many years and they are very happy. I always ask them how they manage to stay together and stay happy for so long when so many young people these days can’t seem to stay in a marriage. Do you want to know what they all tell me?”, she asked.

I nodded.

The older woman looked me in the eyes.

“They tell me that young people miss the point of marriage. The secret to success for my friends is that they have all married their best friends.”, Hetty replied.

I nodded and she continued.

“You see, their best friend was there for them to listen and talk when nobody else was and sometimes, they were there in times when words were not spoken. They understand each other...”, Hetty paused, “They come from a time when you fixed something that was broken instead of throwing it out and getting something new to replace it... Does that make sense?”

“I understand...”, I said.

I had been broken to some degree from the years of foster care and my rough upbringing hadn’t helped any. 

Toby had been broken by his childhood and his near-constant struggles with addiction, not to mention the fact that he was supposed to be married but his fiancee had broken up with him before the wedding. 

We both had issues.

Maybe we could help each other overcome them.

But I couldn’t just go up to him and pour my heart out to him. If I ever wanted to have a chance with him, I’d have to take things slow.

 Hetty noticed my silence.

“I can practically see the wheels of your mind turning, Miss Quinn... I’m not suggesting that you elope with Dr. Curtis... I just wanted to help you come to terms with your feelings for him.”, she explained.

“Well now that I know, what should I do?”, I asked.

This whole conversation was quite out of my character, but for once, I didn’t really care.  

 “How you act on your feelings is solely up to you, but I have a word of advice for you,”, Hetty replied, taking off her glasses to clean them, “Take it from someone who knows, and don’t spend all your time looking for the perfect opportunity to tell him because life is far too short for that... you don’t want to watch your life go by because you kept hesitating and you don’t want to have your ‘should I’ turn into ‘I wish I could have’.”

I nodded.

“Thank you Hetty.”

“It’s no problem Miss Quinn... I’ll be in touch.”, Hetty replied.

I walked back to the main part of the boathouse and Cabe and Toby were waiting there for me.

“Hey, we thought you’d never come out of there...”, Toby greeted, spinning his hat between his hands, “Cabe and I are starving, want to go get something to eat?” 

I thought about what Hetty had said and although she had cautioned against wasting time in deliberating over whether or not I should tell Toby, that wouldn’t stop me from waiting to see if what I was feeling was temporary before telling him.

I’m not the type of person who would easily decide on their emotions and act on them (unless it was anger, then I was  _too_ easy to decide and act). I would wait, but only so that I could get my thoughts in order.

“Yeah, lets go...”, I said and followed Toby and Cabe out, not missing the smile on the shrink’s face, “Doc?”

“Hm?”, he hummed, raising his brows in reply.

“I hope you like red and gold, because those are the colors we’re going with...”

Toby nodded.

“I think red and gold would be the perfect color compliment for my complexion.”, he replied and I nudged him with my elbow and smirked.  


	5. For Her

Toby POV

I sat patiently while Happy scanned my face and then I went back to reading my books when she was done. She scanned herself and then began working. 

I saw her over the edge of the pages on her computer, tapping away furiously before making a face and leaning into the computer again.

I knew that she liked working with her hands, but I had never seen her so absorbed with something like this before.

“Is making masks really _that_ interesting?”, I asked.

“It is if you know what you’re doing.”, she replied, not looking up at me.

I shrugged and went back to reading for a little while until she called me over.

“Hey doc, come here and tell me what you think.”, she said.

I walked over and looked at the mask she had designed for me.

It was incredible. She had created a mask that was black and gold with red accents and that looked like it was cracking apart as it progressed from one side of the mask to the other. When wearing it, the mask would make it seem like it was breaking to reveal my face beneath it.

“Happy...it’s amazing...”, I said.

“I also designed this one if you didn’t like the other one.”, She said and pulled up another mask that had the same color scheme, only this mask looked like it was going up in flames.

“That’s cool, but I like the other one better...”, I replied and Happy shrugged.

“Alright, I’ll print it out...It’ll be done by tomorrow.”

I was going to walk away when a thought occurred to me.

“Hey, Happy...can I see your mask?”, I asked.

She nodded and opened another Inventor file and pointed at the screen before rising and walking to the kitchen.

“That’s it so far...what do you think?”, she asked, getting a couple bottles of water out of the refrigerator and walking back over to me, handing me a bottle.

My masks had been incredible but hers was a masterpiece and it wasn’t even completed yet. 

It was an eye mask that was made to look like metal had been turned to lace as it progressed down her face. At the top right side of the mask, there was a spray of leaves and feathers that looked like they were made out of lace and they were held in place with a set of gold gears. 

“I never pegged you as the type to enjoy Steampunk...”, I replied, “But Happy, it looks beautiful...”

Happy smiled.

“Thanks.”

There were a few beats of awkward silence and then I went to shake them off by standing up and making a move to leave. 

Unfortunately, Happy had been thinking the same thing, only she made a move to sit back down and we both ended up running into each other. Happy’s nose connected firmly with my shoulder and she yelped in pain before staggering back and clutching her nose, turning away from me.

“Happy! Oh my God, I’m so, so sorry.... here, let me take a look at it...”, I said, concerned for her.

“Doc, I don’t think it’s broken, I’ll be fine...It’s just...oh shit...get some tissue...it’s bleeding...”, Happy replied in a congested voice.

“Here, come with me.”, I said and led her towards the bathroom before closing the door.

Happy sat down on the toilet and I told her what to do.

 “Pinch the bridge of your nose firmly and lean forward over the trash can.”

Concern flashed through my mind and my chest felt tight when I saw that her hands were covered in blood.

“Doc...I got blood on your jacket...”, she said as I washed my hands before I grabbed the first aid kit from the closet and dug around in it for gauze. 

“I’ll be fine,”, I replied, turning to her, “I’ve been through enough hospital rotations to know how to get any type of bodily fluid stain out of any type of clothing...”

Happy moved her eyebrows in a sign of agreement. 

“Now hold this under your nostrils.”, I said, passing her the gauze pad.

“I know how to stop my own nosebleeds, Doc. I just gotta wait a while...”

“I know you know, but this is one caused by impact, not necessarily by dry nasal passages like your other ones might have been...”, I replied and pulled an empty milk crate from outside of the bathroom to sit on before closing the door again.

“No, my other ones were caused the same way...”, Happy replied in a small voice, “The system isn’t kind to kids, especially not genius kids like me.”

Those words made my heart drop.

What kind of lowlife abuses a kid in foster care?

I had always known that Happy’s childhood had been bad, but I never knew just how bad it had been. 

“I’m sorry... I didn’t know...”, I replied and tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder.

To my surprise, she didn’t shrug it off.

“Well now that you do, can you not mention it to anyone else? I don’t want a pity party just because I went through some pretty fucked shit as a kid.”, she replied, glancing up at me. 

“You have my word as a doctor.”, I replied, “I’m not legally allowed to disclose any information about you that I learned while you were being treated.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes and Happy kept moving her gauze to keep it from soaking through.

“Okay, I think I should check your nose really quick, just to see if the bleeding has stopped...”, I said and watched as she carefully removed the bloody gauze and put it in the trash, “Can you breathe through your nose at all? You can try but don’t do it too hard now...”

Happy inhaled experimentally before coughing and spitting into the sink.

“Ugh... the post-nasal drip... that’s the part I hate the most...”, Happy said and I turned on the water before patting her on the back.

“But you can breathe fine?”, I asked.

“Yeah, just feels like a lot of dried blood up there...I need to get cleaned up...”, she replied and began washing the dried blood off her hands.

“I still want to make sure nothing is broken...”, I added as she used some damp paper towels to clean her face up.

“That’s fine.”, she said.

I had her sit back down on the toilet and she looked so nervous.

“Happy, you know I’d never hurt you.”, I murmured.

“I know...”, she whispered.

“Now tell me if you feel anything like pain or pressure...”, I said and she nodded.

I placed both hands on her cheeks and used my thumbs to carefully test the area around her nose for any signs of breaks or fractures.

“Talk to me Hap, what do you feel?”, I asked, applying slight pressure to her face with my thumbs.

“Just some pressure and a little bit of pain around the bridge...I’ll probably have a pretty nice bruise there tomorrow...give Hetty’s makeup artists something fun to work with...”, she replied.

“Okay... You’re pretty coherent. You don’t get dizzy upon standing?”, I asked, still working with my thumbs, “I’m just making sure you don’t have a concussion.”

“No, I’m good.”, she murmured, not meeting my gaze.

“You sure?”, I asked softly, my hands lingering on her jaw.

She looked at me and her eyes widened a little and she inhaled sharply at my close proximity, but she made no move to tell me to stop. She just stared straight into my eyes and I was frozen, staring straight back at her.

It felt like there were suddenly dozens of butterflies fluttering around in my stomach and I felt my face getting hot. 

So much for me practicing some normal clinical detachment...Then again, nothing about Happy Quinn would ever be normal to me.

I noticed that she didn’t look so terrified anymore. Instead of a surprised expression on her lips, I found that she was biting her lower lip in an almost anticipatory way, like she was expecting me to say something.

I _was_ going to say something, but my mouth had gone dry and my jaw was refusing to cooperate. 

Then Happy did something I wasn’t expecting. 

She raised her hands shakily and placed them on my shoulders so that her thumbs were on my neck.

“What are we doing, Toby?”, she whispered, her eyes searching mine as her thumbs began stroking at my neck, sending chills down my spine and making goosebumps rise on my skin. 

“Whatever you want us to do...”, I replied, finally finding my voice.

I didn’t know if what I said had been right or not, but I never really found out because I was distracted by her gaze flicking down to my lips and back up to my eyes, her body language speaking volumes to me.

I don’t know who leaned in first or whether we both did it at the same time but the next thing I knew, we were kissing each other. 

It only lasted for a few seconds and when we pulled apart, I had a feeling that we were both wearing the same surprised expressions, like we couldn’t believe that we had just kissed each other. 

“Happy, I-”

“I meant to do that.”, she blurted out, cutting me off, “I know I won’t say it later, but while I have the guts, I just want to say that I meant to kiss you, that I wanted to, because you’re always so open and, for once in my life, I-I feel like I can place my trust in someone and not have them let me down...that someone being you.”, she didn’t meet my gaze and she was blushing beet red, “I just...I know how you feel about me, you’ve told me before and I don’t know why I just could’ve been a normal person and told you how I felt instead of kissing you, but I’m not going to let myself feel sorry for doing what I did, if that makes any sense.” 

She had never opened up like that to me. What had started out as an apology for crossing a line that shouldn’t have been crossed was turning into a confession in my mind, and it was taking all of my willpower not to kiss her again.

“Happy...I just wanted to say that I meant to kiss you too...I just didn’t want to make the first move... I didn’t want to push your limits.”, I replied, “So if this is a thing that we’re acknowledging as being good and fine between us, I’d like to ask you on a proper date. I don’t want to do lunch out at Chipotle, I want to take you somewhere that requires a reservation. I-I want to make everything feel special...you know?”

“You want that?”, Happy asked, finally looking up at me.

We had made massive strides in this little bathroom, and honestly, I didn’t care where we were, as long as these things were being said. 

“Yes, why else would I say it?”, I replied rhetorically, earning a smile from Happy.  

“Thanks Doc...”

We sat in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say to each other and then Happy stood up. 

“I-I should really get back to work if these masks are going to be finished in time...”, she said shakily and I nodded.

“You just let me know if you need anything, okay?”, I replied.

Happy nodded.

“I’ll text you...I’d rather not let the rest of the team know what’s going on just yet...”, she replied, “If anyone asks, tell them about the nosebleed but nothing more than that, okay?”

“Okay.”, I said and she patted my arm and left the room.

I remained behind for a minute, looking myself in the mirror, still processing all that had just happened.

_I had just kissed Happy...she had just kissed me..._

I didn’t really believe in miracles, but I was starting to. 

I pulled off my jacket and turned the bloody side in. I would spray the stain down with hydrogen peroxide when I got home later.

As I exited the bathroom, Sylvester gave me a weird look.

“What?”, I asked.

“Why were you two in there together?”, Sylvester asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I bumped Happy and gave her a nosebleed and so I took her in the bathroom to make sure she was treated properly for it. I checked for a concussion, she seems fine, and she should be all set by now.”, I replied without missing a beat, sitting down in my desk chair and propping my feet up on the desk as I picked up my book and began reading again.

“Oh...I hope she feels better...”, Sylvester said before turning back to his chalkboard and facing away from everyone.

Happy cast a sideways glance at me and I could’ve sworn I saw her wink in my direction, but I must have been seeing things, because Happy doesn’t _wink_ at people, especially not at me.

“Yeah, Sly...I’m sure she’ll be just fine...”, I replied, wondering how on earth such an enigmatic woman could be attracted to someone like me.

I was a mess, she was driven and determined and so very brave. 

What had I done to deserve her?

After Amy, I thought that I would never love again.

 My addiction had been too great to overcome and I had, in a way, doomed her by association. 

Sure it hurt like hell when she left me, especially when I found out that Quincy Berkstead (Wimpy Jerkhead) and Amy had been getting it in for almost a year behind my back and that when Amy dumped me, she would accept Quincy’s marriage proposal and leave me to deal with all of the fallout.

Perhaps she had been right to leave me at the altar, so to speak.

I wasn’t a good match for her.

I sighed minutely and looked over at where Happy typed away furiously, her dark eyes glowing with determination as she focused on her task and I said a silent prayer to whatever higher power would listen to me that I wouldn’t mess up with her.

Amy was my realization that I needed to fix myself, Happy was who I fixed myself for. 

I just hoped that she would accept me, all of me, as I am.


	6. Chapter 6

Happy POV

I continued working in silence for the next couple of hours but I could still feel Toby’s eyes on me. 

For once, his staring didn’t really bother me all that much.

I had always found his presence to be a little overwhelming. 

At first, he’d been annoying, but if I had to be honest, it was an endearing sort of annoyance, almost like that of a hyperactive puppy. 

Slowly but surely, Toby grew on me, but it was never more than that. 

He had had Amy then and I wasn’t about to get involved in any way, shape, or form with someone who was engaged, even if it was to the devil herself. 

I never thought those two made a good match. He was a mess and she only wanted a man who was a finished, polished, perfect product. She never tried to help him get better, she was always an enabler and that’s only one of the reasons why I couldn’t stand her.

Amy was also controlling and cold. She hated all of us and made sure she let us know just what she thought about us, and Toby was blind to this. She saw Toby as a trophy husband. She was from a well-off family of doctors and had friends in high places and she had a job that made good money (even if she wasn’t smart enough to be a doctor herself). 

She saw being married to a doctor as the icing on her fucked up cake. 

Toby didn’t notice how bad it was until their relationship was over, but he had confided in me that, upon his marriage to Amy, she would have had him join her father’s practice and he would have been used to line her father’s pockets, thus keeping all the money in the family, after all, who wouldn’t want to hire a genius psychiatrist with a degree from Harvard?   

Toby might have loved her, but if they had gotten married, I would be willing to bet that Toby would have been paraded around at every social function and put through his paces like some show dog for the rest of his life. 

When Amy dumped Toby and married Quincy Berkstead, he spiraled out of control and was almost consumed by depression. He hit rock bottom and then stayed there for a while until he gradually started building himself back up again. 

I remembered the night that Toby told me the full story of how they had broken up. 

Toby had been sleeping in the Airstream for weeks after Amy kicked him out and I had been working late one night when he had stumbled in the door, drunk as hell, and had spilled his guts to me as he sobered up. 

I never breathed a word of what he told me that night to anyone and I don’t even know if Toby remembers what he said to me that night, but his story stayed with me.

It broke my heart to watch him struggle through his recovery, but no matter how many times I offered to help him out, he always politely refused and told me that this was his battle that he needed to fight on his own, and I always backed off and gave him his space.

I sighed to myself and glanced over at Toby.

For all the times he had called me strong, I hope he knew just how strong he was too.

I went back to work and didn’t stop until I had pressed “send” on my file.

I glanced over at Toby again and he looked up at me, smiling a little as he reached for one of the medical journals on his desk. 

I nodded back and began working on something else, but my mind was constantly replaying the kiss on a loop.

I was still amazed at how, in one split second, I had taken what had been simple flirtation between Toby and I to a whole new level.

That split second had also let me know that my attraction was definitely not one-sided. He had kissed me back and I would be lying to myself if I didn’t want to feel his lips on mine again.

Sitting in the bathroom and being checked for a concussion wasn’t exactly how I had imagined my first kiss with Toby, but I wasn’t complaining. 

It was true that I had often let him entertain my thoughts and fantasies, but I had always make sure that I never let him or anyone else know that.

I looked up at Toby again and let my mind wander a little bit this time.

He was so absorbed in the medical journal he was reading that he was oblivious to me, allowing me to take the time to appreciate the way he was all stretched out in his chair.

His eyebrows were drawn together in a look of concentration as his hazel eyes scanned the page. He was biting his lip and his hat sat on his phrenology bust behind him, leaving his wavy reddish brown hair out for once. His long legs were propped up on his desk, his ankles crossed in a display of relaxation. He was holding the journal with his left hand and lazily turning the pages with his right.

Again, those long, slender fingers of his just did something to me. 

He might be awkward with the rest of his coordination, but he definitely has steady hands.

His hands had been careful against my skin in Bosnia and had been nothing but gentle earlier.  

For all the cracks I make about him being clumsy, nonathletic, lanky, and uncoordinated, I have to admit that the doc does stuff to me that sometimes makes it hard for me to keep my walls up.

I shuddered unconsciously at the thought of his hands going to work on my body. He would probably be slow, gentle, caring, and attentive but not overly cautious or skittish. He would be all the things that I liked in a partner, because, for as often as I was the one team member who seemed the most unapproachable because of my so-called “intense vibe” and “hard exterior”, that part of me had never really defined the person I wanted to be in my love life.

In the past, partners had seen those parts of me and expected me to act the same way and assume that I’d want to be treated the same way in the bedroom, but they were wrong, even though I had just gone along with it. 

I sighed and went back to work.

I needed to stop getting into my feelings at work, but it was so hard to do with Toby right there, not even a couple dozen feet from me.

Cabe walked in the door and announced that we had an easy case and Toby threw down the medical journal he was reading. 

“Hallelujah!”, Toby shouted sarcastically and rose to his feet, “I thought I was going to die of boredom.”

“Calm down there, doc...I only need Sylvester, Paige, and Walter out on the case...”, Cabe said and Toby huffed a little before sitting back down again and reaching for his medical journal once more, “We’ll need you two running the back end of the operation from here...”

Toby rolled his eyes.

I smirked at his childish response.

“Just give us a few minutes to get ourselves together and we’ll be out soon.”, Walter said to Cabe as he ran upstairs.

“Hey, Toby? If this case goes on longer than expected, I called Ralph’s school and told them that you and Happy will be picking Ralph up, okay?”, Paige asked Toby as she grabbed her bag from her desk.

“Will do, Miss Dineen...”, Toby replied as he fired off a snappy salute, earning a smile and a thank-you from the liaison. 

“Happy, how are those masks coming along?”, Cabe asked, leaning up against my work bench. 

“They should be done by tomorrow...”, I replied, leaning over the magnifying lens to look at the tiny gears and mechanisms within my newest project.

“What are you working on now?”, Cabe asked, “If you don’t mind my asking...”

“Not at all...It’s a mantle clock...I saw it at an antiques store... the owner told me that it’s worth quite a bit of money and he has a buyer lined up, but it’ll be worth a lot more if it worked... unfortunately, everyone he’s taken it to has had little hope for the piece.”, I replied.

“So you’re trying to make it run again?”, Cabe asked.

“Yeah... If I can make it run and chime again, It’ll practically triple the value of the clock...We’ll be splitting the profits and if this works out as well as I had hoped, I’ll be getting paid pretty well for this and I’ll finally be able to buy that new motorcycle engine I’ve been saving up for.”, I replied.

“Any luck?”

“It’s a bit of a hassle because the gears are messed up, but I can make new ones and replace them. It’s the act of keeping everything perfectly balanced that makes this a challenge...”

Cabe nodded and then Sylvester and Walter walked outside to get in the van.

“Well, I hope everything goes as planned...”

“You too.”, I said and nodded to the door, “We’ll be keeping an eye on you guys...”

Soon, their mission was underway and it was simple enough.

All Walter and Sylvester had to do was get some virus off of the computers at the mayor’s office and reinforce the protection so it wouldn’t happen again.

They didn’t even need our help, but it still ran later than expected and there was no way they would be getting back in time to pick Ralph up from school, so Paige asked us to get Ralph.

“No problem.”, Toby said and disconnected the comms.

Once they were cut off from us, Toby turned to me.

“Did I do something wrong?”, He asked, surprising me.

“No. Why do you ask?”, I replied.

“Well, you haven’t said hardly a word to me since we came out of the bathroom and that was hours ago...you didn’t change your mind about how you felt about this whole situation, did you?”, he asked.

“What? No, no... I’m still as sure of this now as I was then... I just had to take care of some stuff and I wanted to wait until we were alone...you know how Walter is about fraternization...”, I replied, locking the garage door behind us.

“Yeah. I know...”, Toby replied, “But I’m glad that we’re still okay...”

I chuckled a little as we got into his Jeep. 

“Yeah... It’s only been a few hours, but we’re okay...”, I said.

We drove to Ralph’s school in near silence but when we were a few miles away from the school, I did something bold and I grabbed Toby’s hand where it rested on his knee.

“Hey, what are-”

“I’m just trying this out...”, I said, cutting him off.

He nodded.

“Okay.”

I didn’t miss the way he smiled as he looked back at the road, nor how he laced his fingers with mine. 

I could live with this.

“So... uh, Happy... Is this a thing... are we, you know, dating?”, he asked after a few beats of silence.

I thought for a second.

“Yeah doc...”, I replied, brushing my thumb along his, marveling at how smooth his hands were compared to mine, “We’re dating... even if we haven’t actually been on any dates.”

“No dates _yet_. I plan on taking you out sometime soon...”, Toby replied.

“Well, I’m busy tomorrow night...”, I said with a smirk.

“Oh really? I have plans too...”, he replied, a playful glint in his eyes.

“Yeah... It’s a pretty elegant affair...”, I said, playing along, “I’ll be wearing a fancy dress...it’s gonna be a pretty rich crowd, so I gotta look the part...”

“Sounds fancy...You have a date to this soiree?”, he asked.

“Yeah, I do... he’s a psychiatrist, he went to Harvard...”

“Ooh, didn’t know that Ivy League type appealed to you...”, he replied, his grin widening.

He wanted to see how long this banter would continue, and I had to admit, being this way with Toby was interesting, refreshing, and a bit fun, even if it was out of my normal character.

It didn’t matter much to me, this was Toby. This is how I had always wanted to be around him, and I wasn’t going to give up this rare opportunity so easily. 

“Well he _graduated_ from Harvard, he’s not quite the Ivy League type of man... he’s more down to earth...”, I replied before deciding to put the ball in his court, “And what about you? Heard you had plans for tomorrow night as well...”

“Yeah, if you can believe it, I’m escorting this beautiful young woman to a fancy party as well...”

I feigned disbelief as heat rose in my cheeks.

He had never really called me beautiful like that.

“Really?”

“Yes ma’am. She’s a mechanic and she’s really intense, but, my God, she’s so smart...so much smarter than I could ever hope to be...”, he lowered his voice and murmured, “I hope she knows that I hold her in the highest regard.”

I grinned.

“Trust me, doc, I’m sure she does.”, I lowered my voice to match his, “And believe me, she holds you in high regard too, she’d be a fool not to...”

“Something about her tells me that she’s no fool...”, he said, grinning to match me.

I felt a new emotion cut through me and root itself deep in my chest, causing my breath to hitch.

 _Is this what love is supposed to feel like?_    

His hazel eyes softened and he leaned in to me, pausing briefly to allow me to change my mind or protest, both of which I didn’t do. Instead, I softly pressed my lips to his and marveled at how smooth they were in contrast to his stubble.

He hummed softly and deepened the kiss, his hand coming up to gently cup my jaw. 

That simple action alone made a soft sigh escape my lips, making Toby smile into the kiss.

We pulled back slightly, our lips centimeters apart, reveling in the feeling of being so wrapped up in another person that you momentarily forget how to breathe, how to _exist._

It’s an exhilarating sensation.

Toby captured my lips once more with his, kissing me fiercely this time, as if he was making me a promise that he would never let me go, and I was surprised with how okay I was with this.

I pulled back even further to catch my breath and then we both leaned in again.

I pulled back at the last second as I saw Ralph making a beeline for the car out of my peripherals, but Toby’s eyes were closed and he kept moving, burying his face into the front of my V neck tee shirt, and, by extension, into my cleavage.

He pulled back a split second later and his face was beet red. I unlocked the door for Ralph.

“I am SO sorry... please don’t kill me in my sleep....”, he apologized.

Ralph clamored into the backseat and closed the door just as the words left Toby’s mouth.

“Hi guys.”, he said before frowning, “Why would you kill Toby in his sleep? I know he’s a spiller, but he’s also a valuable part of the team....”

I don’t know if it was Ralph’s words or the briefest flash of confusion in Toby’s eyes that made me burst out in laughter.

“What’s so funny?”, Ralph asked, still confused.

“You’re too young to know...”, Toby muttered, still red-faced.

“Really?”, Ralph deadpanned.

“Really. Don’t worry though, Happy won’t _actually_ kill me in my sleep.”, Toby replied.

“Still doesn’t explain why I can’t know what was so funny...”, Ralph muttered.

I caught my breath and said, “Patience, Daniel-san! Enjoy your childhood and innocence while you can.”

“Who’s Daniel-san?”, Ralph asked after a moment.

Toby and I looked at each other.

“Really? ‘ _Karate Kid’_? That not ringing any bells for you?”, Toby asked.

“Nope.”, Ralph replied, taking out his Nintendo DS and beginning to play.

“Why is it that Happy, Cabe, and I are the only ones who watch movies?”, Toby asked rhetorically. 

I turned and Ralph shrugged in response before completely focusing on the game. He wouldn’t notice if Toby and I held hands.

Toby must have had the same idea because the next thing I knew, he had my hand in his and our fingers intertwined.

Then he did something unexpected at the next stoplight and brought our joined hands to his face and pressed a soft kiss to the back of my hand. 

It was an apology and I brushed my thumb over his in what I hoped would be a reassuring way, still not used to this whole ‘being tactile’ thing, but something told me that I was doing just fine.

So far, I had almost broken my nose against Toby’s shoulder and had kissed him in the bathroom, he had misread my body language, and then he had shoved his face in my boobs by accident. 

I sighed a little, hoping that tomorrow night would go a little bit more smoothly than today had gone, even if today had been a very good day for me.

 _“For us.”_ , I thought to myself, as Toby flexed his fingers around mine and reminded me once more that I was no longer alone.  


End file.
